


do you know the muffin man

by ollietwist



Series: Penderwick Oneshots [2]
Category: The Penderwicks Series - Jeanne Birdsall
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:07:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25236694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ollietwist/pseuds/ollietwist
Summary: Tommy has a crippling muffin addiction
Relationships: Rosalind Penderwick/Tommy Geiger
Series: Penderwick Oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1788112
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	do you know the muffin man

**Author's Note:**

> Cause the world needs more Tomalind in it

One muffin.

That was all he was getting.

Nothing more.

He needed breakfast and this bakery had helpfully popped up on his route to work.

He simply just needed to walk in, order a blueberry muffin, receive it, and be on his way to the construction site.

Simple enough.

Even Tommy could do it. That’s what he told himself anyway.

So at seven in the morning, Tommy walked into the little bakery with a fully formed plan.

And at precisely seven o’one his plan went flying out the window at terminal velocity.

The little bell hung above the door rang when he walked into the empty front room. And in a few seconds a young woman walked out from the back.

“Good morning,” she said, too cheery for how early it was. “What can I get for you today?”

He stood there blinking, his brain occupied with the fact that this girl’s hair resembled the chocolate in the croissants and that she had a streak of flour on her forehead.

He swallowed. “Muffin.”

The girl chuckled softly. “What kind?”

Tommy glanced down at the case and was assaulted with the sight of so many pasteries and even worse, muffins of such a variety he couldn’t even begin to know where to start.

“Um…Blueberry?”

“Sure thing.” She pulled out a small bag and grabbed one of the millions of muffins, putting it into the bag and setting it on the counter by the register. “Anything else? Coffee?”

Tommy was waiting for his brain to catch up to what was taking place.

He shook his head. “Just the muffin please.”

He paid and left and still trying to figure out just what happened.

He walked into a bakery. A pretty girl worked in said bakery. He ordered a muffin and said nothing else to her.

Idiot.

He should have at least attempted to get her name.

But no. He was just stupid and silent and accomplished nothing except acquiring a fantastic muffin.

He passed it by on his way to his apartment only to see that it closed in the early afternoon, too late for him to go in and see if that girl was still working.

He guessed he was just going to have to get another muffin tomorrow.

Tomorrow came and he once again walked into the bakery, this time prepared for what was going to take place.

Minus the fact he was not prepared in the slightest for what took place.

First off, there was another patron in the shop and second the girl behind the counter was most certainly not the girl he had seen yesterday. She was Indian and had her hair cut into a stylish bob, unlike the other girl’s long hair. But she shared a similar kind smile and soon the other customer left and he was at the counter.

“Hi what can I get you?”

“A chocolate chip muffin please.”

“Sure thing!”

“So how long has this bakery been here?” Tommy asked.

“Only a few weeks so far. We just recently opened. Part of the issue being that my business partner only graduated college in May.” She handed him his muffin.

“Wow. That’s impressive. How did you get this open so soon then?” He paid.

“Rosalind always wanted to open a bakery. She’s been putting away money for who knows how long. We were in a sorority together and she was my little and I was a marketing major.” She shrugged as she handed him his receipt. “I loved the idea and started saving as well, and then of course I had two years of solely working once I got out of school. We pulled out a few more loans and got some investors and _viola_. Here we are. Best bakery in Worchester.”

“Agreed.” He smiled at her. “Thanks for the muffin and I’ll see you around.”

He left the bakery both with a great muffin and now a name. _Rosalind._ If that girl the first day even was Rosalind. He didn’t know. But he could hope.

He walked into the bakery few days later to see presumably Rosalind running the front counter. A few more people were here and honestly Tommy was grateful for the time it gave him to think. Maybe this time he’d actually be able to get a sentence out without sounding like a moron.

He finally reached the counter. “One cranberry-orange muffin please.”

She smiled. “Coming right up!”

“So are you Rosalind?”

She gave him a strange look as she handed him his muffin. “Yes. You must have met Arushi. Did you ask about when the bakery opened?”

“Uh yeah? Was I not supposed to?”

She sighed. “No. It’s fine. I love that girl to death but she needs to stop telling my life story to anyone who walks in.”

Tommy didn’t know how to respond to that and so he silently paid and then walked out.

So much for not making a complete moron of himself.

He came in the next day, fully determined to make it through a conversation.

“What kind of muffin do you want today?”

Tommy stopped short in the middle of the bakery. “What?”

Rosalind shrugged. “Every time you’ve come in, you get a muffin. So unless you’re suddenly feeling adventurous, I assume that you’re getting a muffin.”

Gaining his bearings, Tommy grinned. “Well you have so many flavors of muffin I have to try them all before I move on to anything else. A pistachio muffin please.”

She nodded and took one out of the case.

“So who bakes all of these?”

“Oh I do.”

“What.”

“I do,” she said a little more firmly. “I’m sure Arushi told you I wanted to open a bakery for a long time. Well to open a bakery don’t you think I’d like to bake.”

“I, uh, never made that connection.” That explains her random flour streaks though.

She stiffly handed him the muffin and Tommy then realized he had somehow upset her. Crap. He needed to save this.

“So, uh, if you bake so much, do you have a specialty?”

She looked at him her face drawn. “It’s not a muffin if you’re wondering.”

“Then what is it? And let the record show that I like things other than muffins.”

“Brownies,” she shrugged. “My baking specialty are brownies.”

Tommy looked at the various kinds that decorated the case. “Which ones?”

“Any of them.”

“I guess I’ll take an original then.”

“What?”

“An original brownie. Without the nuts or anything fancy done to it. They’re your specialty right? So if these brownies are better than your muffins, why am I denying myself?”

“Alright then.” She pulled out a brownie, placing it in another bag and he paid for it.

“Thanks Rosalind. Have a good rest of your day.” He left the bakery ecstatic. He made it through a whole conversation with her.

And he would later learn that the brownies were indeed better than the muffins.

“You were right.”

“What?”

“Your brownies were amazing. But what can I say: I’m a muffin sort of guy. But all things considered, can I get a double-chocolate muffin?”

“Uh. Sure.”

Rosalind seemed to be in kind of a daze as she got his muffin.

He leaned against the counter. “I haven’t seen Arushi since that time I came in here to hear what was apparently your life story. Where is she?”

“Oh she’s usually doing paperwork in the back and watching the ovens but currently she’s in a meeting with a couple businesses around here for catering.”

“Wild. You’re like what? 22? And she’s 25? And here the two of you are running this incredible bakery. That’s crazy.”

“Thanks.”

He grinned. “No problem. I’m glad you’re here. How else would I get my muffin fix?”

“Good morning Rosalind.”

“Morning Thomas.”

He groaned. “I told you it’s Tommy. Thomas is too formal for a casual muffin pick up.”

Rosalind rolled her eyes smiling. “Well if you’re so offended I guess you aren’t up to be my guinea pig then.”

“Woah. I didn’t say that. I am more than willing to try whatever you make. As long as it’s a muffin. I can’t ruin my reputation yet. I haven’t tried them all.”

“Well good thing today’s experiment is a muffin.” From behind the counter she pulled out a green muffin. “This is the matcha muffin.”

“What is that?”

“Matcha is a strong green tea and is kinda a fad in America right now, never mind the Japanese have had it for centuries. People are putting it in everything and I figured I’d try my hand at a matcha muffin. And seeing as you’re the muffin man, I figured you’d be the perfect test subject. And for your effort you can get another muffin on the house, in case you don’t like this one.”

“Rosalind. I think you know at this point that I love anything you bake but I will not turn down another muffin. How about the lemon-poppy seed one?”

She handed him the two muffins. “Eat the matcha muffin please.”

“I need to get going. I usually eat my muffins on the way to work.”

“Thomas. I need to see your reaction, I can’t just hear your review when you walk in tomorrow.”

“Fine. And it’s Tommy.”

He took a bite out of the muffin and while it wasn’t sweet like the other muffins he was used to it wasn’t bad. He was pretty sure though that if he had anyone else’s matcha muffin he would’ve hated it. But as it was, Rosalind was phenomenal at what she did.

“This is good.”

“Duly noted. You can be on your way.”

“Thank you my lady,” he said with a little bow and he left the shop.

“Hey Arushi. Rosalind in today?”

“Who wants to know?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

“No one in particular.” He shrugged.

“She’s in the back,” Arushi gestured with her head. “A large cookie order came in this week and she’s making sure everything’s perfect. Who in their right mind orders a cookie platter two weeks after Christmas? People are still dieting you know.”

“Not me. A blueberry muffin please.”

Arushi rolled her eyes. “Your diet consists of muffins and whatever creation Rosalind wants you to sample. How you haven’t collapsed with all that sugar in your system is a miracle.”

“What can I say? It’s a gift.”

“It sure is. And speaking of gifts, Rosalind’s birthday is in week. Please do us all a favor and ask her out.”

He swallowed. “Excuse me?”

“Your crush on the cute bakery girl is sweet and endearing but for heaven’s sake seeing you two dance around each other is getting old. Ask the poor girl out. You’ve spent enough time getting on her good side and she knows you aren’t some sort of douchebag that looks down on her or thinks her incapable. Just ask her on a date next week to celebrate her birthday. Not on her actual birthday mind you; she spends that with her family.”

Tommy could feel his throat drying up and the words getting lost in his mouth. “I-I’ll try.”

“Good. Here’s your muffin. On the house. Unless you chicken out and don’t ask her. Then I _will_ raise the prices on the muffins. And only the muffins.”

“Yes. Ma’am.”

“Good. Get on your way and plan that date.”

“So I, um, heard Friday is your birthday.” Rosalind froze and Tommy could see _Arushi_ mouthed under her breath.

“Yeah it is.”

“23, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So, um, would you want to, you know, celebrate? With me? Like we could get dinner or something?”

“Thomas. Are you asking me on a date for my birthday?”

“Yes?”

“Yes?”

“Yes. Rosalind will you let me take you out on a date to celebrate your 23rd birthday?”

She finally smiled. “That sounds great Tommy. I’d love to. And here’s your muffin.”

Tommy took his muffin but he stood there just grinning at her.

“Don’t you have a job to get to?”

He glanced at his watch and cursed. “You’re right. Bye Rosalind.”

He dashed out the door only to come back in.

“I kinda need your phone number.”

**Author's Note:**

> Few notes:
> 
> 1\. My personal headcanon for Rosalind is that she goes to school and is a business major and afterwords opens her own bakery so I really wanted to write her in that career
> 
> 2\. The reason Rosalind gets annoyed at Tommy in the beginning/middle was because she thought he was going to say that she was too young to be doing so much and that she wouldn't be able to run a bakery. She had gotten a lot of criticism for her dream in college. There was never really a good way to bring that up in the story since it's from Tommy's perspective and she learns pretty quickly her assumptions were unfounded
> 
> 3\. Croissant is a horrendous word to write
> 
> 4\. I made muffins yesterday and for some reason I crave muffins on Sundays so I was most definitely imprinting onto Tommy
> 
> I'm skye-penderwick on tumblr if you ever want to talk or send a request/prompt!


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